


to be done with desire

by seventhstar



Series: a covenant with a bright blazing star [21]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alpha Katsuki Yuuri, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Regency, Jealousy, M/M, Magic, Marriage of Convenience, Misunderstandings, Omega Victor Nikiforov, Regency, Regency Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 11:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17848859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seventhstar/pseuds/seventhstar
Summary: But Viktor and Chris do not appear for dinner; they call for a tray in Chris’s room instead. And after Yuuri has lain awake, fully dressed, for a few hours, he has no choice but to face the dreadful facts.Viktor is not coming to bed at all tonight.[part of an ongoing series of fics, telling the story of poor and scandalous trademan's son viktor nikiforov's marriage of convenience to the reclusive lord katsuki]





	to be done with desire

**Author's Note:**

> aaa sorry this is so late! i wrote 10k in drafts before i produced this, i didn't forget :)

The day does not start off promisingly, and only gets worse from there.

Viktor is drinking wine at breakfast, which Yuuri cannot think is a good sign, and since he sits there in stony silence, Yuuri has no choice but to attempt conversation with Chris.

“How do you like breakfast?” Yuuri asks, in what he hopes is a conversational manner. Chris raises his brows, but Yuuri soldiers on. He cannot allow Viktor to drink himself into a stupor while Chris fumes over his toast. That would make him a terrible host and a worse husband. “Where is Mr. Kou from?”

“He is not from anywhere, precisely. He was adopted by a Japanese couple but then went to live with a relative that could not pronounce his name. They renamed him Kou, and Kou he remains.”

“My grandfather was asked to change his name when he first came here,” Yuuri says. “He fought a duel over it. Possibly many duels. No one ever tells the story sober, so it’s hard to say.”

Chris snorts.

“Sobriety is not one of your family’s virtues,” he says. “Or so I understand.”

Yuuri blanches—what has Chris heard? There are rumors? He’s been sober for months! Yuuri vows never to show his face in town again, and shoves a spoonful of beet soup in his mouth. _It_ _’s not that I am a drunk,_ Yuuri thinks, _it_ _’s that every time I imbibe, I find myself in a scrape. Like at the Leroy ball…_

He abandons politeness in favor of finishing his meal. After they have eaten, and the dishes are clearing themselves, and Viktor has finished a second glass of wine before noon, he and Chris depart. That leaves Yuuri alone, with his thoughts, which is an unpleasant prospective. _Today is a good day to inspect all the spell networks in the house,_ Yuuri decides. _Granted, that may mean I spend it resembling a chimney sweep._

Because Yuuri has had the thought, he is not surprised when it comes true, and he spends the day lying flat on his back in fireplaces, reinforcing the spells that control the flames while Cook laments in the background. Fire is one of the earliest spells children learn, from the children of beggars to the prince himself. Magical philosophers write that fire was the first spell mankind created; even the cave writings of olden days depict men gathered around flames.

Because of that, maintaining the fire spells in the house’s network is not very strenuous work, though there is a lot of it to do. That leaves Yuuri’s mind free to worry about having offended Viktor all day long.

He starts formulating his questions, and is fully prepared to broach the subject with Viktor before dinner. But Viktor and Chris do not appear for dinner; they call for a tray in Chris’s room instead. And after Yuuri has lain awake, fully dressed, for a few hours, he has no choice but to face the dreadful facts.

Viktor is not coming to bed at all tonight.

_I suppose he and Chris resolved their argument,_ Yuuri thinks. Even the voice in his mind is a tad hysterical. Makkachin has taken Viktor’s place in bed, and Vicchan has crawled onto Yuuri’s chest to sleep. The dogs are very good, and at least Makkachin has not abandoned him, but she is not an adequate replacement for Viktor. Yuuri has got accustomed to having him in bed; the mattress feels wrong without his weight to shape it.

It is a nonsensical problem to have. Yuuri would like to bed his husband, who he loves. His husband seems to love him. But since Yuuri cannot see his way to asking Viktor to bed him, somehow he has bungled his way into promoting adultery instead. He groans and covers his face with his hands; he’s been impaled on his own sword.

There are reasons that Viktor might stay with Chris all night that are not…intimate. There are plenty of them. Yuuri cannot actually think of any, but that does not mean they do not exist. Possibly if he lies awake here long enough, they will come to him, and then he will not have to think about Chris and Viktor in bed together at all.

Yuuri has seen Viktor somewhat undressed once and can still remember the exact color of his nipples. He suspects himself of being a lost cause. Before long he will be fit to be a character in a poorly written novel, and Viktor has already said he dislikes the hero of Eros.

_I could make an excuse and go look for him,_ Yuuri deludes himself. _I could_ _…just go to that wing of the house and see if they’ve a candle burning. Though they could be doing it in the dark._

“Am I making a mistake?” he says aloud. Neither of the dogs stir. Yuuri decides that is as good as agreement; he picks up Vicchan carefully and sets him down beside Makkachin in bed. Then he takes the lamp hanging over their bed, lights it so that it barely glows, and sets off.

The floors in the house creak, even with Yuuri in his stockings, but he knows how to walk to avoid the loudest spots. In his childhood this skill served him well, letting him steal the last tart after dinner and sneak into his sister’s room to put a snake in her bed. (Mari is not afraid of snakes, but Minako was. That had not turned out well.) He pads down the hall, through the upstairs, until he reaches the wing where the guest rooms are. Chris’s room is easy to find, as the rest of them are still shut up, with white slipcovers over all the furniture.

There is a light still burning, just visible underneath his door.

Yuuri bites his lip, and then flattens himself against the wall beside it and listens.

“It’s not like you to be sentimental,” Chris says. “Are you really going to throw away all our plans?”

“There will be time later,” Viktor replies.

“Does he give you adequate pin money, at least?”

“I haven’t received any.” Yuuri winces, and Viktor adds, in his defense, “It is not as if I go anywhere.”

“What, you couldn’t get it out of him? Have you forgotten how to do it?”

“Yuuri is very good, you know. Makkachin likes him.”

“Makkachin likes anyone who will give her a scrap of meat and a scratch behind the ears.”

“Yuuri has a dog, too.”

“Evil people can have dogs, Viktor.”

“That is exactly what a man with a cat would say.”

“Speaking of cats,” Chris says, “if you would come to town, you could meet—”

“No one.” Viktor’s voice is severe. “There is no one I wish to meet.”

There is the sound of furniture creaking. Possibly the bed.

“And,” Chris continues, as if Viktor has not spoken, “My cat is graceful and dignified. Makkachin is a like a large, slobbery bear.”

“Makkachin isn’t slobbery.” Viktor sighs. “I cannot—you know I cannot. I might run into my aunt—or worse yet, him.”

“Fine. Stay out here, in the country, with your husband. Is he good in bed?”

“Is Mr. Kou?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Nor would I.”

“Tch. No wonder you don’t have any pin money. You used to pick them out based on the size of their pockets,” Chris grumbles in French. “Now you just fall into bed with anyone as mad for dogs as you are.”

Viktor snorts.

At least now Yuuri can feel entirely confident in not letting Viktor know he desires him. He will give Viktor his pin money, as soon as he can get to the bank. He can acquit himself of blame there, he thinks, as his finances are in chaos. Viktor knows that. And if he focuses on the first of Chris’s sentences, he will not have to think about the second or third. With enough effort, he might repress the memory of hearing it entirely.

_I was wrong. Mr. Giacometti is infinitely worse than a Mrs. Boot-Collins._

“I’m going to bed,” Viktor says tartly.

Yuuri cannot run, lest his footsteps be heard. He has to walk, tortuously slow, until he is sure he is out of earshot. Then he does run, straight back to the bedroom. His mind is full as he changes into his nightshirt. Viktor speaks affectionately about him, and yet, selfishly, Yuuri is a little disappointed, for in all that talk of sex Vikor had never once said he wanted Yuuri at all. It confirms Yuuri’s suspicions, and he hardly wishes to recreate Viktor’s unpleasant situation prior to their marriage.

It does not make him want Viktor any less.

Viktor’s footsteps are echoing in the hall as Yuuri slides into bed; he has just laid his head on the pillow when Viktor opens the door.

“You’re awake,” Viktor says, surprised. So Yuuri has pulled it off. It is much less satisfying than a stolen tart. “Were you waiting up for me?”

“Yes.”

Viktor dims the lamp he is holding and sets it on a table. Yuuri can’t see Viktor’s expression well in the dark. He lies there in agony while Viktor undresses, staring at the ceiling. Both dogs are removed to their place on the hearth.

“You’re a very good dog,” Viktor whispers.

The mattress shifts as Viktor lies down beside him, and finally, it is comfortable again.

“You were gone a long time,” Yuuri says.

“Chris is leaving in the morning—his business cannot spare him any longer.”

“Oh.”

“I am surprised he has stayed this long. He dislikes the country.”

“Does he,” Yuuri says, relieved. He will be spared future visits. They can always see Chris in town, where he will have lodgings and cannot occupy Viktor all night. “What…a shame.”

There is a silence, and then Viktor rolls over.

“Are you jealous?”

Yuuri does a credible impression of the truth. “No.”

“What a shame,” Viktor says softly. “I should like you to be jealous over me. Good night, darling.”

“Good night,” Yuuri says. He is not sure it is, but Viktor came to bed. There is that. “…darling.”

**Author's Note:**

> coming attractions: more excerpts from Eros. a revamped version of "learning to make fire" to bring it in line with the new continuity, and the most important bit of any marriage: talking about money.
> 
> comments are very much appreciated!!!


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